Dark Lineage
by Realmwalker
Summary: Young Jedi Alnor Hadas sets off in search of the Drak Jedi family which abandoned him as a child. Rated PG-13 for violence.
1. Prologue

Well, here's my first story. I have but one request. If you read this, please, don't merely review. Pick the darn thing apart! Tell me how to improve little bits here and there. That way, I can improve my writing, and you can read a story of much higher quality. Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. It belongs to George Lucas. Of course, you knew that.

"We can't take him with us," his mother said. "He's too young to defend himself, and we never have any time to train him. He'll only slow us down." She looked more than prepared to board the transport and leave them all behind. Her two lightsabers were still in their small cases on her back, but she seemed on the edge of drawing them to confront the sound approaching footsteps.

"He's young, yes," his father said calmly, "but if we could find someone to train him when we didn't have time, he could quickly become one of the most powerful Dark Jedi our order has ever seen." The boy was terrified at that peaceful look on his father's face. It was a look he got when he was about to slaughter anyone who got in his way, coldly, emotionlessly. The boy had seen what that oddly shaped hilt at his father's waist could do, and it was by far worse than anything his mother could do with both of her lightsabers.

The sound of the footsteps grew louder, and the boy's older brother spoke up. "We have no time. I say we abandon him. Even if he is taken to Yavin 4 for training, they'll never teach him his full potential. He won't be a threat to us."

There was no time for further discussion, as a group of Couruscant police officers came into view down the dark, wide alley of the lowest level of Coruscant, blasters at the ready.

The three Dark Jedi drew their lightsabers and quickly deflected any blaster bolts coming their way. The boy was frozen in terror as he saw his father whip the blaster-shaped hilt off his belt and the red energy blade slid out. Merely flicking his wrist could deflect any laser coming towards him.

The boy took the opportunity of his family's distraction to take cover inside one of the abandoned doorways. He peeked out, to see streaks of Force Lightning shoot across the alley, striking the guards down. The Dark Jedi quickly backed up the ramp of the transport, a small, agile ship that would take them to the _Silencer_, though he didn't know what that was. The shuttle rose up and sealed shut, as the transport lifted off from the dark alley, and shot upward into the night sky.

The boy continued to watch where the transport had vanished, until a voice said, "Hey! Over here! This kid saw the whole thing!"


	2. The Academy

This is the first real chapter. As I said, pick this darn thing apart. I like constructive criticism. Even if you like the story, keep an eye open for little things I can change.

To Mockingbird: Yes, I know it's short, but hey, that was the prologue. It's not supposed to be _too_ long. Still, I know what you mean. As for the dialogue, being on different lines, it was just a small mistake. Since I'm too lazy to edit that darn prologue anymore, I'll just make sure I take care of that in future chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. It belongs to George Lucas.

Alnor sat in his room in the Jedi Temple, meditating. He felt the force around him, could sense everything going on. There was a cheerful air in the temple, but it never seemed to soothe Alnor's constant feeling of sadness. He had never really tried to socialize with the other students. He felt that if they found out about his past, about who his family was, they would hate him. Master Skywalker was the only person who knew Alnor's secret. Alnor appreciated the way the Jedi had let him tell things at his own leisure. He never pressed for information, and he treated Alnor the same as any other student.

He still kept seeing that alleyway on the bottom level of Coruscant back when he was seven. His father, Kadan Hadas's words, saying he could have become one of the most powerful Dark Jedi, his mother, Adele, and his brother, Quinn, saying they should leave him behind, that he would be no threat, even if he was trained as a Jedi. That was almost ten years ago. Alnor was almost seventeen now. The training at the Academy had left him quite in control of himself. He displayed almost no emotion, but there was always that inward sadness, that feeling of shame, which stemmed from his origins.

Alnor sensed someone at his door, and rose to answer it. He found himself looking Kala Alynsla in the eye. The girl was a complete extrovert. It was as if she had taken it up as her mission to make Alnor loosen up slightly. Still, it meant he usually wasn't left without a partner during lightsaber practice.

"Hey, Alnor!" she said, her perpetual grin doing it's usual job of bridging the gap between her two ears.

"Oh, hello," Alnor said, sounding considerably less excited. He appreciated Kala's kindness, but sometimes she just drove him crazy.

"So, you coming to lightsaber practice now?" Kala asked.

"Well, seeing as that's what I'm supposed to be doing, and seeing as I don't want to get in trouble, yes," Alnor said, sounding more than a little sarcastic.

"Well, come on!" the girl replied.

As they walked Kala chattered away non-stop. Alnor was surprised she didn't have to stop and breathe. Alnor just sort of nodded now and then. It had been like this ever since he had arrived at the temple, after the Coruscant guards had found him, and brought him to Master Skywalker. Kala had been there for about two years before, and had quickly picked him out as someone to show around the temple. They were about the same age, and Kala had a lot of skill with the Force, even if she did tend to loose concentration when excited. She had to learn to keep a lid on her cheerful. She had improved greatly in that area, and Alnor was sure she would become a powerful Jedi one day.

When they reached the lightsaber training area, Alnor saw Master Skywalker finishing up with a group of students. The Jedi was duelling with one of the younger students. To prove that the Force could help you overcome simple problems, he had tied his dominant right hand behind his back, and was using his weaker left hand against the student. The speed at which Luke moved was incredible. His balance was perfect, and every move he made seemed to be calculated completely in a split second. Luke finished off the duel by leaping over a low swipe and zapping the student with his training lightsaber.

"You see?" Luke said to the class. "The Force can help you accomplish difficult tasks easily if you just concentrate."

Alnor decided to wait until after class to ask Master Skywalker a question that he had been wondering about for some time now. He knew that Master Skywalker was considering graduating him, and he wanted to make a request for his first mission.

"Alright," Master Skywalker said as the other students prepared for class. "You've all shown great skill with the lightsaber. We're going to up the pace a little more today. Now we'll simulate a group of Jedi being surrounded by a large number of enemies. I've programmed several remotes to attack you. You'll have to work together to avoid getting hit. Watch each other's backs, or you won't last long. If you get hit, go and sit on the sidelines until the next round. Once everyone's been hit, we'll start over."

Alnor removed the training lightsaber at his belt. Master Skywalker pressed a button and about twenty remotes hovered into the room. There were fifteen students in the class, so the students were outnumbered, but they all remembered their teachings. Numbers alone didn't guarantee success. Alnor reached out and felt the force around him. He could sense the spherical remotes taking aim. One of the hovering droids fired at him. He easily blocked the laser with a twitch of his lightsaber. The small droids hovered around firing at the students. He predicted each shot, and blocked or dodged, according to what was most efficient. For a moment, Alnor's concentration was shattered as one of the students stumbled into him. Before he could react, a laser was streaking towards him. An inch in front of his face, a blue energy blade deflected the bolt.

"You're the last person I'd have thought would lose their concentration," Kala said, taking the blade away from Alnor's face.

Alnor sensed it immediately. Swinging his lightsaber, he blocked the blaster bolt aimed between Kala's shoulders.

"Just because I let my guard down, doesn't mean you can too," he said, focusing on the lasers once more.

Slowly, Alnor noticed Luke was upping the difficulty of the remotes. The lasers were coming at a faster rate, and more and more students were getting hit. Alnor winced as one of the bolts connected with his shoulder. He went over to the sidelines to watch the remaining few students continue to block lasers

Finally, the last student was hit, and everyone crowded back into the centre again.

"Very good work," Luke said. "Level seven difficulty. Most classes have trouble getting past level five. As I said, you're very skilled with your lightsabers. Of course, that just means I expect you to do better this time. Round two!"

After class, Alnor approached Master Skywalker.

"Excuse me, Master Skywalker," he said. "I'd like to ask you something."

"Go ahead," Luke replied.

"Well, I know you've been considering raising me to Jedi status, and I'd like to make a request for my first mission," Alnor said.

"I know what your request is," Master Skywalker said. "I don't need to sense it from the force to know it's your family you want to pursue."

"Yes," Alnor said. "I want to try and turn them to the Light Side of the Force."

Luke gave Alnor a grin. "Master Yoda always told me, 'Do or do not, there is no try.' I can share your intent. After all, my father was a Dark Jedi, too, and I turned him to the Good Side of the Force in the end. I sense no anger towards your family, and you definitely have the right intentions. I think it's about time you were raised to Jedi status. Very well. Your first assignment is to find your family and turn them away from the Dark Side of the Force."


	3. A New Weapon

To Aevum: Forging ahead for the first time in a long time!

You know the drill. Don't own, don't sue.

Alnor spent the next few days preparing for the journey. The problem was, he had no idea where to start. In an attempt to clear his mind, he set to work on a new lightsaber. Everyone was given one upon arriving at the temple, but very few kept it upon being raised to Jedi. He had all the parts laid out before him on the plain wooden desk in his chamber.

As hew worked, Alnor thought back on his past. His family had taught him many things that no Jedi should ever know, never mind use. The lightning that was so commonly associated with the Dark Side seemed menial in comparison to some of these powers. One of them was a variation of Force Grip, which, rather than choking a person, was used to crush objects. Alnor had ground many stones to dust with it in his childhood, but his parents had used it on living people. Alnor had never seen them do this, but he'd heard it. Nothing made quite the same sound as a skull caving in on itself.

Alnor was disgusted by how natural this had all seemed to him back then. He had never been taught mercy or compassion in his family. Instead, he had learned greed and hate. Part of him had always thought that something was wrong, but his family had simply told him that it was his weak side, and that he should ignore it. If his family hadn't been forced to leave him behind when they fled Coruscant, they would surely have turned him into a heartless killer. He could have been one of the most powerful Dark Jedi ever! The very thought of that made him lick dry lips…

A sudden cracking noise snapped his attention back to the present. Fractures ran all across the tabletop, and there were places where splinters poked up to reveal the wood beneath the finish. His lightsaber sat in the epicenter of those cracks, completely assembled, save for the final step of fusing it together with the Force. Alnor's hands shook as he realized what had happened. It had been a long time since he'd lashed out through the Dark Side like that. And yet, at the same time, it felt like the Dark Side had lashed out through him. Once, he had been a rash youth, acting simply as he had been taught, striking through hate. On his first day, he nearly killed a student who had been arrogant enough to think Alnor was inexperienced. It had come as a nasty surprise for the sixteen-year-old student when he was thrown against the wall and began to feel his chest constricting. Master Skywalker had been forced to intervene quickly to keep the poor student's ribs from snapping like twigs, but had not dealt with Alnor harshly. He had simply said, "From this day forth, you can lay aside your hatred, Alnor. This is a place of peace."

Alnor ran his fingers along one of the cracks in the desk. Something about it this time had been different. It had taken time, but he had managed to rid himself of his anger. He knew he was above these things. And yet, somehow, those thoughts had come. They felt so strange now, as if they were someone else's. He still felt a tremor of the Dark Side. Something about it was familiar, and yet it was so distant. One part of him told him to focus, and clear the fear from his mind. Another part rose up in fury against that fear.

Alnor tried to shove the anger and fear from his mind, to focus, and yet he found he could not control it. The fury seemed almost unfounded, as if being pulled from him against his will, drawing on his fear. He had to strike out against it! He had to destroy this evil within himself!

The desk burst into thousands of splinters as it was crushed by the Force. Lightning flew from his fingertips, striking at anything in sight. He saw his lightsaber fly upwards as lightning struck it. The Force surged into it and suddenly a green blade emerged from it, as if the weapon had come to life. Alnor no longer remembered what he was afraid of, or what he raged against, but the lightsaber buzzed around the room as it joined in the effort to destroy it.

Lightning continued to pour from his hands, but the majority of it went inside him, in the hopes of rooting out his fear. Alnor let out a scream as the Force ate at him from the inside out. The lightsaber whirled faster, bouncing wildly off the walls and ceiling. Just as he thought he could take no more, and the Force would simply tear him apart, a second green blade knocked the weapon out of the air, and something flung Alnor off his feet. Everything went black…


	4. Tremors

It's not my fault! Blame George Lucas! He made this universe!

Alnor groggily opened his eyes, and snapped them shut as light blinded him. Slowly, he opened them again, allowing his eyes to focus. He was in his room, but a new bed had replaced his old one. Everywhere he looked, long gouges and burns covered the stone walls. Carefully, Alnor tried to sit up. He abandoned that idea immediately. Just thinking about moving was painful.

Footsteps turned his attention to the door… Or at least the gaping hole where the door had been. Master Skywalker picked his way carefully around the debris and sat on a stool beside Alnor's bed.

"It's good to see you awake," Master Skywalker said. "You gave the medical droids a rather difficult time."

"I don't know what happened," Alnor said. "I lost control."

Luke's face turned grim. "What happened wasn't your fault," he said. "Someone outside the Temple used the Force to instill fear in you in such a subtle way you thought it was your own. As your fear grew, they were capable of even greater control."

"How is that possible?" Alnor asked. "It couldn't have been a mind trick. You need to talk to someone to use it, and I was alone. And besides, my mind is too strong for that. "

"Alnor, this was something much more than a simple mind trick," Master Skywalker said. "Whoever did this was doing it from a great distance off, and had an incredible mastery over the Force. It was so powerful that every student in the Temple felt it."

"So what can I do? What if they try this again?" Alnor asked.

"Alnor, the only way someone could have done this is if they had spent enough time around you that they could feel your presence anywhere, and I think the only possibility is your family. You are a danger to yourself and others as long as your family is able to control you like this, but going after them could be even more disastrous. Either way, there is the danger of the Dark Side."

Alnor thought for a moment. "The way I see it, I can hide until the next time they reach out to me and I either burn myself up or fall to the Dark Side, or I can run after them and risk exactly the same thing," Alnor said.

"My vision is clouded," Luke said. "I can see nothing. The choice must be yours."

Alnor closed his eyes. Somewhere, coming from far off, he could feel a tremor. And yet, there was something closer, too. They both beckoned, but the closer one demanded more immediate attention.

"I can't hide from them," Alnor said at last. "I'd rather fight an uncertainty than hide from the inevitable." Something about that tremor nearby tugged at him.

"Alright," Master Skywalker said. "However, I'm going to ask that you take Kala along with you."

"No," Alnor refused. "She's too inexperienced to come on something this dangerous."

Luke shook his head. "Kala has more skill than you think. She may seem unfocused, but you can rely on her when you need her. You can't do this alone, Alnor. Someone has to be ready to intervene if your family should attempt to take control again."

Alnor opened his mouth to protest, but closed it again. Master Skywalker was right. He did need someone to keep an eye on him. "Yes, Master Skywalker."

"Good," Luke replied. He got up to leave, then paused. "Oh yes," he said. "I believe this belongs to you." From a clip on his belt, he produced Alnor's lightsaber. "I have to say, it's incredibly well crafted."

Alnor gathered his strength and managed to sit up. Taking the small metal tube from Luke, he studied it. The lightning had left jagged burns up the entire hilt. Alnor ran a finger up one of the zigzagging lines. An excellent reminder of the pain the Dark Side brought.

"Thank you, Master Skywalker," Alnor said.

"Get some rest," Luke said, getting up. "You'll need to regain your strength before you set out."

Alnor nodded and lay back on his pillow as Luke quietly left the room. Placing his lightsaber on the stool beside his bed, he closed his eyes. Sleep came quickly, with that tremor still tugging at him…


End file.
